Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-03-13
THE ERENcn corscnrrr.
How she Young Men Eniey Their
Last Few Days OF liberty.
ISt James 0azette.l

ht Ill TRANCE
which takes place at about this season
always causes certain ferment through
out the country. This year, for obvious
reasons, II has been greater than usual
The family perturbation produced BY
the drawing away Of so many young
men from their homes is necessarily
great; and the coDscripts themselves
from the time that they have gone
through the operation called Hrag,
an sort until they enter their barracks
make such boisterous use of theiI
remaining hours of freedom that those
WHO arc not Immediately interested in
this annual efervescence of young blood
cannot remain absolutely Indifferent tc
It. 1t is the custom OF conscripts when
they have drawn their number to ex-
iibit these to the world, whether they
arc "lnCky or "unlucky, on pieces
oi cardboard which they fasten 10 their
rats and they frequently deck them
seives out with many colored nib
Ions as well. Then those who have
been drawn from the same localities
iorm themselves into bands of twenty,
Thirty, or more, and parade the towns
end villages, singing, shouting. and
making as much conmotion as the pub-
lie viii endure. So long as they do not
fight among themselves or assault
ether people they are allowed TO do
pretty much as they please. Every
lody knows that they will shortly be
Iut into uniform, and that then they
will have to behave with the utmost cir
cumspection in public. During these
lsst few days of blessed liberty the con-
scripts pay frequent visits to the wine
hops and smoke great many cigars,
iCr those who have money spend it
freely, not only upon themselves, but
UJon their comrades who have none.
81 parents, moreover, unless they are
abjectly poor, put something in their
boys purses when they are leaving
home to join the army.
When the festive interval is passed,
and the conscript is under military dis
cipline. a great change comes over him.
Unless he is exceptionally bright he
Las to put up with much abuse from
those whose duty it is to make a soldier
Of him. In France no officer or sub
officer is allowed TO inflict corporal pun
ishment upon o soldier {; but the Ian
guage commonly used to stimulate the
intelligence Of the novice could not be
printed even in q French paper without
many asterisks. OF all cOnscripts the
Breton is said to be the most stupid and
the most stubborn but it is not always
remembered that he comes from q dis
trict where the dialect of the people
offers no analogy TO the French Ian
Puage, and that when he is drawn into
the army the words of command often
sound to his ears like those Of a foreign
tongue. By far the greater number Of
French peasants are accustomed to
speak pdtois from their childhood, and
this circumstance adds not q little to
the troubles upon which they enter
when they leave the plough to join the
army. The French conscript has not
been week in barracks before his face
shows that the cares of life have begun
to settle upon him. When the first
trials of soldering, however, are over,
he generally becomes resigned and
cheerful.
Every Frenchman who has COM
pleted his twentieth year is theoreti
Gully liable to serve five years in the
amy. There are, however, some ex-
IN ptions from the rule and various
mitigGtions as regards its application.
Most of these will be done away with
if the measure which General Boulan-
ger proposes to lay before Parliament
this session is adopted. Circumstances,
however, may arise which will cause
this much talked-of bill to become q
dead letter. The law which still holds
good was adopted in 1872, when the
country, still bleeding from its
deep wounds, demanded with one
voice new military organiza-
ton based ON the German
system. This law declares that every
Frenchman capable of military service
may be called upon between the ages
of twenty and forty to do duty in the
active army and the reserves. The ex-
emptiCns are almost exclusively en-
loved by clerical students and young
men who, by the death or infrmity of
their fathers, have become the mainstay
of the family. This law also declares
five years to be the period OF service in
the active army. four years in the re-
serve of the active army, five years in
the territorial army, and six years in
the reserve of the territorial army.
With regard to the fiye-years'
service in the active army there are
some important mitigations. As o
matter of fact the proportion Of men
who remain in the regiments during
the whole of this period is small. Spe-
cial provision has been made for young
men aspiring to the higher professions,
such as law and medicine, by what is
termed the UOIOntariat d'ul an. With
out waiting to be called upon to serve
as ordinary conscripts, they come for
ward as volunteers for the year only.
1t is sufficient for them to have OBJ
tanned degree Of 6GcheliCr-es-icttrCs
Or Jachctier-eS-ScicRcCs for them TO
serve as volunteers for year, and if at
the end of that time they pass their
examination, they are consid-
cred to have served their full period
with the active army.
In this system there is obvious in
equality before the law-an injustice
lat even Republicans admit to be ne
'cssary in the interest of society. But
is done to keep up an APP
5earance of equality. Jacques Bon
lomme, who is debarred by his lot from
becoming a 6Gcheiier-eS-tettrcs is per-
nittcd TO cherish the hope that at the
jrdGe aaSOrt he will draw a lucky num-
ser which will reduce to one year the
i've years service which he knows his
country has right to expect from
him. A lottery is sometimes very
way of getting out of
moral difficulty. The French man
zoe to invest this drawing of num-
)ers for the period of military service
With a great deal of solemnity. Every
Iear in each canton list is drawn up
II all the men between twenty and
wenty-one years OF age and on GER
ain day they are summoned to the
Marie of the chief town to draw their
numbers. The project of the depart
nent presides, and the mayors of the
liGerent communes forming the canton
re also present. In large cities each
reimbursement is considered equal to a
anton. The numbers TO be drawn are